Self-aligning door catch



P 1970 R, M. COURTWRIGHT 3,527,488

SELF-ALIGNING DOOR CATCH Filed May 17, 1968 m N m/%uw 4 l F 3 G Hm J 2 6w 4 1. A m

INVENTOR. ROBERT M. COURTWRIGHT QQQ wrggy ATTORNEYS United States PatentUS. Cl. 292--23 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door catchproviding a Teflon roller carried by the door and lodging, when the dooris closed, in a stall defined by opposed spring arms which yieldinglygrip the roller at diametrically opposite sides of its circumference.

This invention relates to a door catch, and as one of its objects aimsto provide a simple and inexpensive device for this purpose which willkeep a door from saggmg.

A further and important object is to devise a door catch for the doorsof a double-doored caster-mounted cabinet, and one especially which willpositively hold the two doors in perfect alignment, thus to preclude thedoors from popping open as the cabinet is moved over an uneven floor.

The invention has the yet further object of providing a door catch inwhich a roller carried by the door engages in a stall provided by thecabinet, with the stall defined by opposing spring arms and the rollercomposed of a material such as Teflon so that the peripheral surfaceswill be substantially free of Wear after even countless opening andclosing operations of the door.

The above and still additional objects and advantages in view willappear and be understood in the course of the following description andclaims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in theadaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the environment in which theillustrated embodiment of the invention is used, and indicating the doorcatch in phantom.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the several elements which compose thedoor catch, with one element shown partly in section.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to anenlarged scale on line 33 of FIG. 1; r

and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

The door catch of the present invention is comprised of a rollerstructure which is carried by the door and a keeper which is mountedupon a jamb or shelf in position to receive the roller as the door isclosed. As here illustrated I show the catch as being designed for theswingmounted doors -11 of a double-doored cabinet 12.

A respective roller 13 is provided for each of the two doors and iscomposed of Teflon or other like or suitable slip-surfaced material andis journaled adjacent the free edge of the related door by a pin 14 forrotation about an axis disposed parallel to the door and normal to theswing axis of the hinges 15 which hang the door. Supporting the pin isan angle bracket 16 secured by screws 17 to the inner face of the door.

The cabinet is shown as having a cross-bar 20 extending from one to theother side wall below a bottom shelf 21, and the keeper receives itssupport from the crossbar. The keeper is designed so as to be a commonto both door catches, and comprises a spring-metal plate 22 of a 'icegenerally rectangular plan configuration with an H-shaped opening 23(FIG. 2) stamped in the center. The length of this opening is such thatit will accommodate the two rollers 13 and two bracket legs 24 whichgive support to the pins from which the rollers are jo-urnaled. Thewidth of the opening substantially exceeds the diameter of the rollers.

The two opposed arms 25 which are defined by the opening 23, one aboveand the other below the cross-slot of the H, are given both acurvilinear configuration, as viewed in side edge profile, and an inwardbending deformation, which is to say away from the front face of theplate, into positions producing the top and bottom walls of aroller-receiving stall. The span between these walls is moderately lessthan the diameter of the rollers, thus to releasably grip the rollerswhen the same enter the stall. Considered in point of stall depth, saidtop and bottom walls 25 project inwardly beyond a perpendicular raisedfrom the pins 14 when the doors of the cabinet have reached the extremelimit of their permitted closing swing.

It is believed that the invention will have been clearly understood fromthe foregoing description of my illustrated embodiment. Changes in thedetails of construction can be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention and it is therefore my intention that nolimitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given thebroadest interpretation to which the employed language fairly admits.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A door catch and aligning device comprising a roller, a rollerbracket for mounting said roller carried by a swinging door, saidbracket including a door mounting plate extending at right angle to aroller mounting plate, means rotatably mounting said roller parallelwith said roller mounting plate, a flat, rectangular keeper platemounted to be functional to said roller when the door is in closedposition, upper and lower spaced, arcuate arms struck from said keeperplate in a direction away from said door mounting plate a space in thekeeper being provided incident to the forming of said arms, said spacebeing slightly less than the diameter of said rollers and an openingformed in said keeper adjacent said arm to receive the roller mountingplate when the door is closed.

2. The door catch of claim 1 in which the total opening formed in thekeeper is H-shaped and the upper and lower arms define above and belowthe cross-bar of the H.

3. The door catch of claim 2 in which a roller is carried by one of thetwo doors of a double-doored cabinet, and a second roller is carried bythe second door to rotate about a coinciding axis in close proximity tothe first roller, and wherein the keeper plate is common to the tworollers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,105,963 8/1914 Clem 292771,111,426 9/1914 Ziganek 292- 1,778,851 10/1930 Ferris 292-76 2,789,8504/1957 Roinestad 29276 2,833,583 5/1958 Stone 292-340 2,983,536 5/1961Heyer 292-75 RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner E. I. MCCARTHY,Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 292--340

